Coldness, Wind Chill, and Survival

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Bruno

...
For reference, living 24-7 in those kinds of temperatures is totally possible for humans, even skinny Australians with poor cold tolerance. During the day you wear a thick shirt and a sweater, warm pants, warm socks and shoes (even in the house - possibly wooly house shoes instead of outside shoes). At night you wear warm pijamas and use an electric heating pad or blanket, a hot water bottle, or your spouse :)

Yes, I imagine it's possible for humans to survive inclement weather with loads of technology like clothing. ;) Clothing is one of mankind's greatest inventions after all. Even if there's some evidence that the preceding species may have had very simple forms of it.
That's one of the reasons why I'm glad my metabolism went through the floor. It's so much easier to just add another layer of clothing than it is to always take one off when already near nude. Though I admit it's not so easy to type with gloves on.

As to warming partners, I believe that's one reason certain breeds of dog were created. Cheap constant bed warmers that won't burn or risk fires like dry tech devices would.

[whswhs]

Just as a note, here in Riverside, we're having a day of rain, and the temperature in our apartment not long ago was 76°F (24°C). It feels quite pleasantly cool; in fact C took her laptop into the bedroom and put her bare fee under the blanket.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

As to warming partners, I believe that's one reason certain breeds of dog were created. Cheap constant bed warmers that won't burn or risk fires like dry tech devices would.

Historically, sleeping by yourself (or even only with sexual partners) was very unusual - a luxury for the very wealthy, who could afford to do things like build extra rooms just for the purpose of sleeping in. For most of the history of mankind, most of us lived in one-room buildings - and where the weather is inclement, this means the room with the cooking hearth is also the room where everyone sleeps. Possibly in piles of people (like puppies) for the same reasons that puppies sleep in those piles: for sharing warmth. In more advanced societies you develop big brick or stone ovens over your hearth, and can do things like they did in Russia, where the top of your oven/hearth is a self-heating brick bed instead of a cooking surface.

In warmer climates everyone still sleeps in the same room because you still only have one room, and at least this way you can hopefully keep track of the kids.

[Tallor]

Just checked on this thread this morning and found four new pages to read.

I'll need a few minutes. XD

[Flyndaran]

Previous spammer reported.

[Arcanjo7Sagi]

Well, I live around Rio de Janeiro (in Niterói to be exactly, city next to Rio de Janeiro). Here, in most of the year the temperature is around 25°C (77°F) to 35°C (95°F). Our summer is around 30°C (86°F) to 40°C (104°F) and can reach the thermal sensation of 50°C (122°F) sometimes.

So, for most of the "cariocas" (people who live or are born here), 20°C (68°F) is a cold day. Our winter here usually don't go beyond that and it's around 18°C (64,4°F) to 21°C (69,8°F) in cold days. That's not counting the hot days when we have almost as much heat as in summer.

So, for most people used to this range of temperature, 35°F (1,6666...°C) would look like a Glacial Age or the end of the world. Here in Brazil we have even jokes about the differences between the states. What we call winter in Rio it's a nice day in Porto Alegre or Curitiba (in the south of the country), for example.

As far as I remember, the summer of Finland it would be considered a winter in Rio.

So... how we would deal this in GURPS? Clearly the temperature tolerance will vary according to the location from which the person is used to.


PS: Sorry for any english mistakes

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Arcanjo7Sagi

So... how we would deal this in GURPS? Clearly the temperature tolerance will vary according to the location from which the person is used to.

The standard version of GURPS simply doesn't. It's like the way that a given kind of armor has a standard weight, not taking into account that some people are 1.5 m tall and some are 2.0 m tall, with corresponding differences in surface area. Some details are fussy to keep track up and don't seem likely to add much to gaming enjoyment, and GURPS usually omits them in favor of gamable abstractions.

If you wanted a way to deal with this in a variant set of rules, I would suggest perhaps shrinking the comfort zone by 10°F (5.5°C) on either side, to 45°F-80°F. Then let it be adjusted up or down by up to 10°F. Someone from a cold climate might find 35°F-70°F comfortable; someone from a hot climate might think 55°F-90°F was acceptable.

Or you could do actual research, looking at the range of mean temperatures over a year for different cities. Though many cities can have extreme temperatures that are not "comfortable." Where I live now midsummer highs get up to 95°F, with occasional spikes close to 120°F; that's not "comfortable" for much of anyone.

[Bruno]

My city is famously the national capital with the second widest range between winter lows and summer highs (the worst is Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, which I only know how to spell because of this trivia). I believe Moscow is also a top contender.

Other places have very stable climates - England traditionally has a very stable climate (although that's changing with the way climate change is redirecting ocean currents and the jet stream).

So that's annoying for trying to make a system :)

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I have been backpacking where the low dropped below 35°F even at lower altitudes in the high desert, in winter though. At Twenty-Nine Palms, we had water freezing in the barracks sometimes.

I've been camping when it got down to 12 degrees F at night. By coincidence, I was at the same campsite a few months later when the heat index was into triple digits, none of them a zero. That's East Coast weather for you.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by RyanW

I've been camping when it got down to 12 degrees F at night. By coincidence, I was at the same campsite a few months later when the heat index was into triple digits, none of them a zero. That's East Coast weather for you.

Sure, I have been snow camping in Northern California and "summer" camping near the Arctic Circle. I was mainly pointing out that it does get below freezing in SoCal. Like I said, where Bill lives now he is closer to the ski slopes than to the beach.